Forget the sterile
labs, petri dishes and test tubes that produced so many drugs in the
past. Tomorrow’s "miracle cures" are more likely lurking
in plants, and not the kind traditionally used by healers, or anyone
else, for that matter. Instead, researchers are tinkering with the
genetic structure of staples like soybeans and rice so they produce
proteins or chemicals needed to make drugs and other industrial substances.
This new approach to manufacturing is one of the more controversial
applications of genetic engineering, driven by drug and chemical companies
eager to cut costs and accelerate product development. They view commodity
crops as a relatively cheap and easy way to obtain large quantities
of the raw materials needed for their trade, and they’ve slowly
begun moving their research outdoors, perhaps to a corn field near
you.

That’s the part that worries Earthjustice
attorney Paul Achitoff. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has permitted
hundreds of open-air trials for biopharmaceutical plants, which produce
growth hormones, vaccines, blood thinning and clotting agents, enzymes
and numerous other compounds, but refuses to disclose the exact locations
of test sites. It’s likely, however, that some are in Hawaii,
given the state’s dubious distinction as the world leader in
open-field testing of other genetically modified crops, with some
4,000 conducted to date.

Achitoff and his clients -- representing a coalition of local and
national organizations -- believe that people have a right to know
where biopharmaceuticals are being grown, especially since none have
been approved for use by human or animals. They’re trying to
force disclosure through a lawsuit against the Hawaii Department of
Agriculture that challenges the agency’s right to restrict access
to public records -- namely the applications for testing permits filed
by industry representatives.

He and his clients are pursuing another lawsuit, filed last November,
aimed at requiring the USDA to take a closer look at those risks.
“Industry is basically regulating itself, and their attitude
has consistently been there aren’t any environmental risks,”
Achitoff said. “But of course there have been any number of
instances that have shown the controls are not adequate to contain
these crops in open fields.”

In recent years, the USDA has destroyed large quantities of soybeans
and corn inadvertently contaminated by biopharm crops due to drifting
pollen and a storage mix-up. The incidents prompted critics to renew
their call for a ban on the use of food crops in biopharming, contending
the practice endangers the nation’s food supply. America’s
giant food processing industry, worried about expensive recalls in
the event of future contaminations, also supports such a move. Even
the Biotech Industry Organization endorsed a moratorium on open-field
testing of corn, the most popular biotech crop, in the Midwest farm
belt.

Locally, activists are concerned that biopharming could derail the
state’s $35 billion seed corn industry. But they’re even
more worried about environment damage, saying biopharming poses unacceptable
risks to Hawaii and its many endangered plants and animals. “Pollen
from plants that are engineered to produce powerful chemicals will
assuredly be carried by trade winds and eaten by insects and birds,”
said Cha Smith, executive director of KAHEA, which joined the Earthjustice
lawsuits. “There is no way to prevent the spread of genetic
material to native plants and animals.”

The lawsuit would require the USDA to conduct an EIS (Environmental
Impact Statement) on its regulatory program for genetically engineered
crops in general and biopharmaceuticals in particular, as well as
for each field trial.

Achitoff said
the EIS process is important because it would force industry to reveal
its rationale for present practices and explore alternatives, while
giving the public more say. The agency also would have to consult
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine if any endangered
species could be affected by a proposed field trial.

Government attorneys have filed motions to dismiss the suit on the
grounds that all biotech field trials in Hawaii are complete, so the
action is moot, and besides, the plaintiffs can’t prove they’ve
been harmed by the field trials because they don’t even know
where the tests took place.

The USDA, meanwhile, announced earlier this year that agency regulations
-- tightened after the biopharm contamination incidents to include
a one-mile buffer zone around genetically engineered crops and at
least five agency inspections during each growing season -- will be
reviewed and perhaps revised. The agency will begin by preparing an
EIS to evaluate its biotechnology rules, although a USDA spokeswoman
insisted the action was not prompted by the Earthjustice lawsuit.

“The science of biotechnology is continually evolving, so we
must ensure that our regulatory framework remains robust by anticipating
and keeping pace with those changes,”said Agriculture Secretary
Ann M. Veneman in a prepared statement. Still, she maintained that
existing rules had been adequate “to
ensure the safe field testing of more than 10,000 GE (genetically
engineered) organisms and deregulation of more than 60 GE products.”

Veneman
also noted that the Bush Administration had developed a compliance
and enforcement unit to ensure agency rules are followed.

Achitoff, who expects to see the USDA lawsuit resolved this year,
remains unimpressed by the agency’s claims. “No
matter what they’re doing, it can’t possibly be adequate,”
he said.

Protesters
arrrested at biotech conferenceBy Paul Elias on 8 June 2004 in the Associated Press
Police arrested 29 protesters Tuesday after some allegedly chained
themselves together and blocked an intersection near where a biotechnology
conference was being held.

About 200 other demonstrators critical of the $40 billion industry
protested on the sidewalks, but failed to shut down the annual Biotechnology
Industry Organization gathering, as they had vowed. They did cause
minor disruptions, however, harassing and heckling conference attendees
as they attempted to enter the Moscone Convention Center.

Most of the
protesters, such as Kamala Stuart, 53, of Oakland, were demonstrating
against genetically modified food. ‘‘They should label
the food, if they think it's so good," she said, waving a sign
that stated, ‘‘label GM Foods." ‘‘We
want people to know, to question this stuff."

But conference organizers said most attendees were affiliated with
the pharmaceutical industry, not the food industry. ‘‘This
is a protest rooted in ignorance," said Jeffrey Feldman, a
merchant banker from Philadelphia attending the conference.

An estimated 18,000 biotechnology scientists, executives and government
officials are in town for the convention.

About 12 protesters were arrested when they carried out what they
called ‘‘guerrilla gardening" in the intersection
in front of the center. Surrounding some potted plants, they linked
themselves together by grasping chains covered with plastic pipe.
It was unclear what the others were arrested for.

A group calling itself Reclaim the Commons had said it would try
to prevent attendees from entering the convention center Tuesday.
Protesters say genetically engineered crops haven't been adequately
proven safe for human consumption and the environment.

BIO officials have said they support the right of protesters to
peacefully demonstrate, but wondered how anyone could be against
fighting disease, which they say is the main focus of most of the
industry.